The season of joy, celebration and too much family is upon us. To help you make the most of this exciting time, I’ve put together a guide with all the links you need to properly enjoy the sparkly season. Christmas fairs, traditions, gifts and more, all in this list of things to do in the Netherlands in December.

Winter night Amsterdam, with a snow-covered street

The Dutch December calendar

The Dutch holiday season is longer than most, because it starts with a saint arriving by steamboat in the middle of November. The dates that matter:

  • Mid-November — Sinterklaas arrives. The national arrival is on Saturday 14 November 2026, in Grave, and towns across the country hold their own arrivals around the same time. It’s most beloved by kids.
  • 5 December — Pakjesavond, the evening of presents and rhyming poems. This is the Dutch Christmas Eve, in spirit. Families exchange gifts and you have to compose your own poems for each family member.
  • 25 and 26 December — Eerste and Tweede Kerstdag (first and second Christmas day) , both public holidays. Christmas here is two days of family dinners; shops are closed on the 25th and many open on the 26th, but check locally.
  • 31 December — Oudejaarsavond (translates as “Old Year’s Eve”, instead of New Year’s Eve, as you might know this evening), with oliebollen and, from 2026–27, no consumer fireworks except sparklers and other light ones (see below). I look forward to see if the Dutch will really respect this new legislation.
  • 1 January — The New Year’s Day with the traditional Nieuwjaarsduik, the New Year’s Dive into the North Sea.

Two bicycles rest against a building adorned with a lit-up Christmas tree, creating a festive holiday scene at night

Sinterklaas: the arrival, the poems and pakjesavond

Sinterklaas celebrations. This is the most exciting time of the year for Dutch kids, more than Christmas, although they will get presents for Christmas as well. But nothing compares to the glamorous arrival of Sinterklaas on a boat and his travelling through the city on a white horse, while his helpers — sooty-faced Pieten these days, after years of debate over the old blackface Zwarte Piet — are giving away candy. If you are invited to a pakjesavond, expect a present wrapped in a joke and a poem about you, read aloud. Read more about the Dutch winter traditions on this page on Guide Holland.

Christmas markets and light evenings in the Netherlands (2026 dates)

The most important part of December: Christmas markets and winter events. All the glühwein you can drink, all the good things you can eat and all the gifts you can buy. These are the ones worth a day trip this season, with the dates the organisers have published:

  • Kerststad Valkenburg — 13 November 2026 to 3 January 2027, with Christmas markets underground in the caves.
  • Lichtjesavond Delft — Tuesday 8 December 2026, the opening night of Delft Verlicht (8 December to 3 January). The big Christmas tree on the Markt is switched on, with music and street theatre across the centre. Pair it with my Delft day trip.
  • Dordtse Decemberdagen — the Decembermarkt, with wooden chalets around the Grote Kerk, runs from Thursday 10 to Sunday 13 December 2026. The rest of the programme, including an ice rink on the water of the Spuihaven, carries on until 3 January.
  • Gouda bij Kaarslicht — Friday 11 December 2026, the 71st edition. The town hall is covered in scaffolding this year, so the ceremony and the Christmas tree from Gouda’s Norwegian sister town Kongsberg move to the Waag, the old weigh house. The tree lights are switched on at the 7pm ceremony.
  • Kerstmarkt Haarlem — Friday 11 to Sunday 13 December 2026, through the streets of the centre. Free, and an easy train ride from Amsterdam; see my Haarlem day trip.
  • Dickens Festijn, Deventer — 12 and 13 December 2026: the Bergkwartier turns into Victorian London with hundreds of costumed characters. Read my Deventer guide before you go.
  • Magisch Maastricht — 27 November to 27 December 2026, with a Christmas market and an ice rink on the Vrijthof.
  • Midwinterfeest Graft-De Rijp — the Victorian Christmas village near Amsterdam is biennial, so it skips this season; the next edition is 11–12 December 2027.

In many cities there are organised Christmas sing-along evenings, like the ones in Haarlem and Alkmaar. And if you want bigger and more atmospheric Christmas Markets, you can cross the border to Germany. Here is my day trip to the Cologne Christmas markets.

Christmas Market Cologne

In December you can admire the beautiful lights in Amsterdam at the Amsterdam Light Festival, which runs from 26 November 2026 to 17 January 2027 this season. Everything you need is in my guide to the Amsterdam Light Festival, and if you want to see it from the water, renting a small boat or a more luxurious one is the way to go. There are light festivals all over the country too, from Eindhoven to Leeuwarden.

Ice: skating, the Elfstedentocht and the ice sculpture festival

The holiday season and winter time comes with a (not so) secret hope: that the canals will freeze and people will skate on natural water. Skating is a beloved sport in the Netherlands, and every year people are impatiently waiting for the canals to freeze. Dutch people love skating on natural ice and they are very good at it.

If the conditions are right, an amazing event takes place: The Eleven Cities Tour (Elfstedentocht). This is a skating race that goes through 11 cities. Unfortunately, it doesn’t happen very often because there has to be a 15 cm thickness of ice for it to take place — the last one was in 1997.

So put skating on the frozen canals on your winter list, if you have the chance. If not, there are rinks in every city from November on.

Frozen lake Hoorn

What better way to celebrate winter than with more ice? There’s a Dutch Ice Sculpture Festival at Flevo Nice in Biddinghuizen (Flevoland), from 12 December 2026 to 7 March 2027. It’s open Tuesday to Sunday, and every day in the school holidays. The dates and tickets are on ijsbeelden.nl.

Winter day trips and December food

Radboud Castle Medemblik

  • Don’t forget to visit a beach, because it’s healthy for you and you might even have the surprise of finding some snow.
  • It’s the season for oliebollen, so you have to eat at least ten! The stalls appear in every town from November; given the amount of oil involved, buy them ready-made rather than frying at home. The other December foods to know are kerststol, the raisin bread with a core of almond paste, and gourmetten, the Christmas dinner where everyone fries their own tiny portions at the table on a shared grill. More Dutch food in A Taste of Amsterdam.
  • For a lot of winter related art, check out the art vlogmas by Culture Tourist.

Oud en Nieuw: fireworks, the ban and the New Year’s Dive

And as the month comes to an end, it’s time for New Year’s celebrations. For years the cities were a war zone on the last day of the year, because Dutch people love to make as much noise as possible and they are not stingy when it comes to putting up the best firework show for their neighbourhood or street. From New Year’s Eve 2026–27 a national ban on consumer fireworks applies for the first time: shops no longer sell them and you’re not allowed to set them off. Only light category F1 fireworks, like sparklers and crackling strings, are still allowed. Professional displays can still go ahead, so there will be official fireworks shows, in a more organised manner.

After all that, to start the year with a fresh head, you have to do a Nieuwjaarsduik (New Year’s Dive) on the 1st of January! You can go to any of the beaches, put on the swimsuit and dive into the freezing waters of the North Sea. There are a few organised events that you can attend, like the one in Scheveningen, the biggest in the country, though it was called off by storm-force wind in both 2025 and 2026, so check the morning of. The 2027 dive is set for Friday 1 January.

New Year's Dive

Practical info:

What’s the weather like in December? Well, most of the time it rains. That’s typical winter here in the Netherlands. Short, dark days, and rain. About 5–8 degrees Celsius. But, if you’re lucky, you might see two days of snow. Or it might be colder and then the sun comes out. And the canals freeze, and you will forget all about the rainy days! Read about how I get through those months in How to Survive Winter in the Netherlands.

It’s also the season of changing or renewing the health insurance, if you live in the Netherlands, so why not check yours and get a better deal for next year? You have until 31 December to switch. And if December includes present-hunting, here are my gift ideas for Christmas.

Stay tuned for more and follow Amsterdamian on Instagram and Facebook for more stories about life in the Netherlands, written by a real local, updated constantly.

Check out my photo book: Amsterdam Through the Seasons!

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